Bush Says 'Pattern of Attacks' Raises Concern About Qaeda

WATERFORD, Mich., Oct. 14 — President Bush said today that the terror attack in Indonesia last weekend appeared to be the work of Al Qaeda and that the bombing was part of "a pattern of attacks" that included recent violence in Kuwait and Yemen. Taken together, he said, the incidents indicate that Al Qaeda is on the rise and promises to be a continuing threat to the United States.

"Obviously, the attack on our marines in Kuwait was a terrorist attack," Mr. Bush told political reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before leaving for a political trip here. "The attack in Bali appears to be an Al Qaeda-type terrorist — definitely a terrorist attack, whether it's Al Qaeda-related, or not, I would assume it is. And therefore, it does look like a pattern of attacks that the enemy, albeit on the run, is trying to once again frighten and kill freedom-loving people."

Mr. Bush said the Indonesia bombing, attacks on American troops in Kuwait and the bombing of a French oil tanker in Yemen pointed to Al Qaeda and the need for a global coalition to fight the terrorist group.

"They're trying to intimidate us, and we won't be intimidated," he said.

It was the first time that Mr. Bush linked all three incidents, and the president said the range of attacks indicated that "the free world must recognize that no one is safe."

"We just learned a lesson this week," he said. "It's going to take a while to succeed."

The president also asserted that the United States military was capable of fighting terrorism on two fronts, in Iraq and the rest of the world, and that he viewed Saddam Hussein as a crucial part of the overall battle.

"Our thoughts about Iraq relate to the war on terror," he said. "Getting Saddam Hussein to disarm is all part of making the world more peaceful."

Mr. Bush said that while the investigation into the Bali bombing was continuing, "clearly we must assume it's Al Qaeda." In raising a possible link between Al Qaeda and the weekend bombing in Bali, which took at least 188 lives, Mr. Bush echoed the comments of Indonesia's defense minister, who said after a cabinet meeting in Jakarta earlier in the day that his government also believed that Al Qaeda was behind the blast. The minister's comment was the Indonesian government's first such official statement linking the attack to Al Qaeda.

"We are sure Al Qaeda is here," the minister, Matori Abdul Djalil, said. "The Bali bomb blast is linked to Al Qaeda, with the cooperation of local terrorists."

But neither he nor President Bush cited hard evidence, and the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, a group linked to Osama bin Laden's terror network, denied involvement in the bombing and implicated the United States, The Associated Press reported from Indonesia.

Mr. Bush said he would soon contact Indonesia's president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, to urge her to increase cooperation in the hunt for terrorists in Indonesia, where American officials say terror networks have been strengthening.

"I want to make it clear to her that we need to work together to find the people who murdered all those innocent people and bring them to justice," he said. "I hope to hear the resolve of a leader that recognizes anytime terrorists take hold in a country, it is going to weaken the country itself. There has to be a firm and deliberate desire to find the killers before they kill anyone else."

Mr. Bush sounded an impassioned note in his condemnation of what he called "killer cells" of terrorists. "These are nothing but cold-blooded killers," he said. "They do not value life the way we value life in a civilized world."

He added, "They just blow up in the name of a religion that does not preach this kind of hatred or violence."

While saying that progress had been made against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and elsewhere and in shutting off its financial pipelines, the president acknowledged that the network remained a lethal force and that he did not know the fate or whereabouts of its leader.

"I don't know whether bin Laden is alive or dead," Mr. Bush said. "I do know Al Qaeda is extremely dangerous. I do know that there are still some of his top lieutenants roaming around."

Asked by a reporter about the possibility that the sniper shootings in the Washington area might also be related to Al Qaeda, Mr. Bush said he did not take that view, though he described the killings, which have left eight people dead and tens of thousands fearful of going outside, as a "form of terrorism."